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Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

One of the best uses for the Instant Pot is making Mashed Potatoes! They cook quickly and come out creamy and dreamy in no time. This Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes recipe has just a few ingredients that are easy to keep on hand so it is easy to make them as a side dish for a meal on any busy night. With garlic, salt, pepper and cream cheese flavoring the potatoes, they have enough flavor that you can eat them on their own, or you can smother them in gravy or other sauce from your main course.

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes Recipe

These Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are so easy, we make these almost weekly at our house now because they literally go with everything. One of our recent favorites is this Easy Chicken Marsala. You might have even seen it since I have been using and sharing a lot about my Instant Pot on my Instagram stories lately and have been getting a lot of questions about how I like it. If you are anything like me it will kind of go like this:

I have so many dang things to fit in my cabinets already. I can’t cram another thing in. I have a crock pot anyway… how different can it really be. I am so not getting that thing.

Oh crap. There was a Instant Pot sale and I bought it. (Sits in box for a month)

Okay, I should really try this thing I am going to do it. (Unboxes this thing, find’s room in cabinet for this thing. Sits on shelf for another two months)

Scrolling Pinterest and find a recipe that looks really good. Clicks on recipe and finds out it is an Instant Pot recipe. Okay now I am going to use it. Oh wait, I got scared… no I am not. (Sits on shelf another month)

Friend who uses the Instant Pot regularly convinces you, it is not scary. Remember all of the reason you bought this thing in the first place? All those promises of dinner on the table in minutes? You can do this! Here, start with this recipe… I will help you! Help? YES! I am going to try it.

That wasn’t so bad. I’m totally using this again for dinner tomorrow. (sits on shelf another month)

Finally decided to give it another try after realizing everything to make dinner is frozen.

I did it! I made a meal. On my own!

Tentatively starts using it more.

Confidence builds.

THE INSTANT POT IS MY FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE EVER!

Converted.

Whether your story sounds a lot like mine, or if you are still new and maybe a little afraid of your Instant Pot these mashed potatoes are for you! Since they are only a few ingredients and one basic step, it makes a great easy recipe to use your pressure cooker for to get a full hot meal on the table fast.

How to make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot

I am going to walk through the recipe here step by step and outline some of my tips, tricks and preferences with my recipe. If you just want the quick version you can scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Also, you can adapt these instructions to use your favorite mashed potato recipe. Just follow the method and sub your ingredients in instead.

I used a 6 quart Instant Pot for making these mashed potatoes. I try to write the recipe so that you can use it no matter what type of pressure cooker you have, but if questions arise, please feel free to leave me a note in the comments below and I can try to help!

Ingredients

2.5 lbs red potatoes– I love the flavor of red potatoes but Yukon gold, Russett, or a mixture would also work well.

1/2 cup chicken broth- This helps keep enough moisture for the Instant Pot to cook and adds a little bit of flavor. If you are in a pinch you could use water or milk instead.

3 cloves garlic- these need to be raw and can go in whole. They will cook with the potatoes and mash smoothly so the flavor is combined with the potatoes.

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup butter- I use salted butter

8 oz cream cheese- I use original Philadelphia cream cheese, but you can also sub light. Do not use Fat-Free cream cheese in this recipe because it will not melt and combine well.

If you would like to add additional spices or flavors you can. If you add dried spices you can put them in before you cook. If you are using fresh spices, I would add them in at the same time as the butter and cream cheese.

Instructions

Place the red potatoes, broth, garlic, salt and pepper into the pot. As mentioned above it is important to have the liquid in the pot to pressurize. The liquid turns to steam and is how the pressure builds to cook the food quickly.If you are using your own recipe and want to use additional dried herbs or other things that need to cook you can add them in this step.

Close the lid and set to sealing, then cook on high pressure for 12 minutes. On most versions of the Instant Pot this is just hitting the manual button and adjusting the time to 12 minutes. By default it will cook on high pressure unless you change it. I also want to mention that if you have small potatoes you could probably get by with 9-10 minutes but if they are the bigger red potatoes you will need the extra time to get them soft.When it is done, quick release the pressure. This just means that you will turn the lever from sealing to venting to release the built up steam inside so you can open the pot.Open the lid and add the butter and cream cheese, then close the lid again (do not cook, just let the heat soften/melt the butter and cheese) for 3-5 minutes. I like to do it this way because it means that I don’t have to remember to take the butter and cream cheese out of the refrigerator early to soften them. They will naturally soften very quickly by just using the heat from cooking. You could try to mix them in right away, however the cream cheese won’t mix evenly until it is softened so I find that this is the absolute best method to get creamy mashed potatoes.

Remove the lid and use a potato masher to mash to your preferred consistency. I use a potato masher and it is super easy. I like my potatoes just a smidge on the chunky side. If you want them completely smooth you can use an electric mixer to whip them.

Serve warm. Enjoy!

That is it! Easy as promised. My favorite part of these is that I can use the oven, stove top or grill to make the main dish, and pop the potatoes in the Instant Pot and have them ready at just the same time. If they get ready a little early, I put the pot lid back on and it keeps them warm until it is time to serve.

What to serve with Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

As I mentioned above the Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes are flavorful enough to eat alone, but I think they are even better when they are smothered so I love to serve them with saucy dishes. Some of my favorites are listed here:

Of course these are a staple at the holidays and are always on our table for Christmas and Thanksgiving. But don’t just leave them there because once you see how easy they are you can make them year round for a restaurant quality meal at home!

I really hope that you enjoy these Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes as much as we do! There is nothing better to fill out your plate than a big scoop of these. If you get a chance to try them I would love to hear about it in the comments below. Or if you share a pic in your feed or stories, make sure to tag me @easyfamilyrecipes so I can see your creations. Nothing makes me smile quicker than seeing others enjoying the recipes I share!

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

Prep10mins

Cook12mins

Inactive5mins

Total27mins

AuthorKimber

Yield8servings

This is a great basic mashed potatoes recipe made in the Instant Pot. It is flavorful enough to eat on it's own, but also neutral enough that it is perfect for being smothered with gravy or sauce from your main dish. These Instant Pot mashed potatoes are a staple not only at holidays, but weekly at our home.

Ingredients

2.5 lbs red potatoes

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup butter

8 oz cream cheese

Instructions

Place the red potatoes, garlic, broth, salt and pepper into the pot.

Close the lid and set to sealing, then cook on high pressure for 12 minutes. When it is done, quick release the pressure. Open the lid and add the butter and cream cheese, then close the lid again (do not cook, just let the heat soften/melt the butter and cheese) for 3-5 minutes.

Remove the lid and use a potato masher to mash to your preferred consistency.

Serve warm. Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe can be doubled to feed a crowd. Double all of the ingredients except the broth, which I recommend using 3/4 cup.

Leftovers can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

This recipe is naturally gluten free.

Nutrition facts provided based on my best estimation for the recipe and may not be accurate depending on what brands you use or modifications you make to the recipe. I recommend using a nutrition calculator with the exact brands and measurements you use for the most accurate calculation.

15 Comments

You can definitely alter the seasoning to suit your tastes. Since the garlic cooks in the instant pot, it actually ends up very mild, but if you want to leave it out all together or sub a little garlic powder it should turn out just fine. Just make sure to add the salt in the right amount since that is integral for flavoring the potatoes.

5 Star rating! Amazingly delicious and increadiable easy! Skins on and no draining! Keeping this recipe bookmarked! The only change I made waswas that I used 1/2 stick of butter to cut back in calories…and still they tasted rich and creamy.